The Fury of a Patient Man
by Solo Ensemble
Summary: [Liason COMPLETE]: Jason and Sonny both cut Courtney out of their lives for good when she saves Alcazar from sure death at Jason's hand.


**The Fury of A Patient Man**

Johnny O'Brien's mother had often told him to beware of the fury of a patient man.

And as the bodyguard's caramel eyes followed his boss as Jason paced agitatedly around the room, his teeth gnashing and eyes blazing, he suddenly found himself wishing his mother were here with him right _now_.

While Johnny's greatest fear was usually swimming in shark-infested waters, number two on his list was an irate Jason Morgan.

In all the years Johnny had known him, Jason had been pretty good at keeping his anger in check. Sonny was the one that blew up, the one that spewed fire and yelled and cussed and threw crystal until someone's blood ran, usually his own. Sonny's anger was always a given; it wasn't _if_ the mob boss would be angry, it was _when_.

Jason was the one who raged on the inside. His eyes would fire up, his hands would clench, that muscle in his jaw would tick. But in the end, Jason would never show his anger. There were only a few times that Johnny had ever heard of Jason losing it. The first was when he busted up the tables at Jake's, slamming a chair around in the empty bar. The second was when Lucky Spencer jumped him with a knife, and Jason got the long overdue satisfaction of pummeling him until the boy had few ribs intact. The third was when Zander Smith – fool that he was – tackled Jason on the docks when Elizabeth went missing. The tussle that ensued had landed his ass in prison, and Jason was none too pleased. Still, Zander Smith lived.

Jason definitely knew how to keep his feelings in check. It was the way he lived his life; the business was easier when there weren't any emotions involved. It was why he had retained the title of Borg. Cold. Unfeeling. Detached.

None of those words seemed to fit the bill at the moment.

Jason paced around the safe house, clothed in black jeans and a long-sleeve black shirt. A silver gun sparkled in his black holster, and his motorcycle boots clicked against the hardwood.

So far, the enforcer had destroyed the television, the glass cabinet, and all the glasses in the wet bar.

Johnny sighed and shifted in his chair, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible. It had not been a pleasant evening, and he knew it was far from over.

The plans were complete, and they were perfect.

Alcazar was handcuffed to a wall fixture in Carly's basement. They already knew that. Carly and Michael were to be at Bobbie's for dinner, and Leticia would accompany them. That would leave the house empty, and poor Lorenzo all by himself.

They'd send a few men ahead to drug him and get him out of there. It would all be done under the guise of a furniture delivery, just in case any neighbors decided to get nosy. Once out, he'd be taken to a warehouse where he'd meet with Sonny, Jason, a few other guards, and his untimely demise.

But the plan had failed.

And the worst part was that it wasn't due to any fault of theirs. So many times, a hit failed due to some mistake on their part. But this time, they had done everything right.

But someone else had done everything wrong.

That someone was Courtney Matthews-Morgan, and was precisely the reason Jason was as enraged as he was at the moment. Unable to come to grips with his soon-to-be ex-wife's entering the house and freeing Lorenzo, and then calling the cops on top of that, Jason had fairly torn the safe house apart as he waited.

Jason resumed his agitated pacing, his footsteps heavy and thundering across the quiet room. Neatly trimmed nails threatening to pierce through his palm, Jason was clearly beyond his point of no return. And Johnny didn't want to be the one to attempt to bring him back.

A soft knock was heard on the heavy wooden door, and Jason froze, awaiting the guest. Max opened the door slowly, his face devoid of surprise or confusion as his dark eyes swept across the room, taking in the shattered glass and crystal that littered the hardwood floors.

His voice was dark and cold; he'd had as much invested in this as Johnny, and while they didn't have any personal grievances against Lorenzo Alcazar as Sonny and Jason did, he didn't like it when a hit was botched for no good reason.

"She's leaving Carly's house."

That was all Jason needed to hear. Johnny's eyes darkened as Jason nodded once, his mouth set in a thin white line.

Max's hands fisted as Jason turned to him, his eyes hard and glittering.

"Then it's time to go."

Courtney sighed as she shifted her weight on the dark porch, trying to dig her keys out of her purse. Compact mirrors, lip gloss, old movie stubs, loose sticks of gum. Her purse was a mess. She'd told herself she'd clean it, but had never gotten around to it.

Finally, she found them and pulled them out. The jagged silver key was quickly shoved through the lock, and the door to the loft swung open. It was dark, and the lone streetlight outside cast a pale bar of light into the living room area.

Courtney gasped as her blue eyes followed the golden light to where it fell on the armchair. A pair of equally intense baby blues, gleaming in the shadows, met hers.

"Jason."

There was movement on the couch, and Courtney's eyes flew to Johnny, Francis, and Max, all seated stonily with their hands clasped in their lap.

"W-what's going on?"

Jason remained seated, and the small _crick crick crick_ when he cracked his knuckles echoed around the room. She thought she caught the tail end of a smirk on Francis' face, but the bodyguard's eyes reflected nothing.

Courtney swallowed noisily, stepping more into the room and allowing the door to shut behind her. She seemed to have regained her composure, and now struggled to portray a defensive front.

"What are you doing in my apartment?" Her voice was laced with anger, but Jason could hear the apprehension in it as well.

Max pursed his lips together, wanting more than anything to whip off a quick zinger. But this was Jason's moment.

"What do you want?" Courtney demanded, her voice rising in volume and pitch. She slammed her purse down on the small table by the door and placed her hands on her hips, her nostrils flaring. "What?"

Jason shifted slightly in the soft armchair, tenting his fingers. "We were in the neighborhood and we decided to stop by."

Johnny bit back a chuckle, fighting to maintain his stoic countenance.

Courtney's eyebrows lifted at Jason's words, but he continued regardless.

"That is, after our evening plans fell through."

Max shifted and cleared his throat, leaving little doubt in Courtney's mind that they knew what she had been up to.

"Look, Jason," she spoke slowly, her voice low. "I know you're angry, but I can explain..."

"I'm aware that you can," Jason growled, standing up slowly. His eyes narrowed and a muscle in his jaw ticked twice. "But this time, I don't want to hear it."

"But Jason, I did it for you," Courtney cried out, her voice pleading with the anger in his eyes.

"Enough!" he yelled, slamming a fist on the arm of his chair. The anger in his eyes flared into thinly veiled rage, and the bodyguards took the cue to stand up as well.

Tears filled Courtney's eyes and she let out a small whimper, sliding back towards the door. Jason advanced slowly, deliberately, his eyes flashing in the dimly lit room.

"You did it for me."

"Y-yes," she got out, hoping he'd calm down long enough to understand that she had to save Alcazar, because it was the only way to save Jason. If Jason had found him in Carly's basement, he would have put two bullets in the blind arms dealer's head without blinking. And then he'd be up for murder charges, and locked away for life, and she couldn't let that happen to him.

The same muscle in his jaw ticked again, and Courtney's heart sank when she saw the same anger in his expressive blue eyes. The same eyes that had once been so open, so honest, so loving, were now as hard as steel and as dangerous as the gun that gleamed in his hip holster.

"Just like you stripped at the Oasis – for AJ."

The words ripped her heart in two, and Courtney had to turn away. Jason watched her head drop, and usually the plaintive note in her voice or the tears in her doe eyes were enough to make him back down and forgive her. But this time, they didn't even come close. He still didn't feel _anything_. And perhaps that should have scared him, but for the first time, he felt right when he was dealing with her. There was no second-guessing his behavior, wondering if he was being too hard on her, trying to understand what could have made her act the way she did. This time, there was no need, and certainly no desire.

Behind Jason, Francis' heart danced with glee while the rest of him remained stony and cold. After seventeen months of pure hell, the little twit was finally getting what was coming to her. Francis knew that Jason was severely impaired in the relationship department, and after seeing his rollercoaster relationship with the boss' sister, he couldn't be more convinced. Courtney played him like a harp, and he always seemed like the powerless victim in the relationship. That, or a drug addict that just kept going back for more.

Francis couldn't help but wonder what it was about the girl that Jason found so damn irresistible. Judging by her beefy arms and abnormally large teeth, it sure wasn't the girl's looks. And it sure as hell wasn't her intellect; Francis had had more interesting and intellectually stimulating conversations with the Canadian geese at the park.

Perhaps it was her neediness, but he wondered how needy a girl could possibly be if she mindlessly barked out orders at every odd minute and kick boxed in her own living room.

But most likely, it was everything that the girl _wasn't_ that kept Jason going back to her.

Francis had seen first-hand the relationship between Jason and Elizabeth Webber, and he suspected that his friend's yo-yo love story with the hooker next door had very little to do with true love and companionship and everything to do with the one that got away.

Watching them for almost four years, Francis had seen how much Elizabeth mattered to Jason. At first, she was just his sweet little friend that he could take for bike rides and dance at Kelly's with and talk to. When he left the first time, Francis had seen how crushed Elizabeth was. But he was also one of the few people to see how crushed Jason was.

When he came back, Elizabeth was fighting for everything she loved and believed in – her family, her friends, Lucky. Pretty soon, Jason became entangled in the battle as well, as Elizabeth frantically tried to fight off the animalistic sexual attraction between them and hold on to the strong friendship she had always clung to and believed in. There were many casualties in the battle, and Stavros Cassidine wasn't even the most significant one. Elizabeth and Jason's friendship seemed to have died when Elizabeth – still struggling to pull together the shattered pieces of all their lives – chose to believe Lucky over her old friend. Francis had understood why she had done it, but that didn't make it any less painful for any of them. Jason left and it seemed to be for good this time. The only thing he took with him were a few stolen almost-kisses and an extra ticket to Italy.

Life had calmed down since then, and Francis would see Elizabeth occasionally at Kelly's. She seemed happy – she had let go of Lucky, she had her friends back, she was back in her grandmother's good graces, and life seemed to be going well. But there was something missing in her sapphire eyes – a light that used to shine and twinkle there no longer did. But it didn't take long for that to change.

When Jason Morgan came back to town – long hair, healthy contempt for the world, and his same worn leather jacket – his young, sweet friend had matured into a strong, intelligent, sexy-as-hell woman, and he and the other guards secretly had a pool going as to how long Jason could hold himself back.

It hadn't been long, as they had all foreseen. Jason fought Elizabeth off as best as he could, but the confused, capricious girl had become a determined, stubborn woman who knew exactly what she wanted, and that was Jason.

The two moved in together eventually, but split not long after that. Elizabeth moved on as best she could, but the same twinkling light in her eyes that Francis had always loved seemed to be extinguished.

Jason had moved onward too, but certainly not upward. His pursuit of Sonny's skanky sister had been painful to watch, but it was real nonetheless. And when Francis had the unpleasant task of guarding the little home-wrecker, he was forced to listen to her babble about her new fairy tale love.

From what Francis could tell, the relationship was a classic case of overcompensation. Whatever he had felt had gone wrong with Elizabeth, Jason made certain not to repeat with Courtney. The blonde gold digger had struck the mother load with this one.

But no more – because she had made the mistake of betraying Jason Morgan, and he didn't look back after someone did.

"That was different." Courtney's low voice didn't offer much else in the way of argument.

"Oh, really?" Jason asked, crossing his arms solidly over his chest. "Well, AJ got into some trouble and instead of coming to your brother or anyone else for help, you took the situation into your own hands and did something you really didn't have to."

Courtney's eyes blazed, and the blonde was about to retort angrily but Jason continued regardless.

"And now, I was going to carry out business – a business that you left me because of – and what do you do? You jump in and take it into your own hands and _help my enemy escape_. How is that different?"

"I did it to keep you out of prison!"

"Yeah – and you did the same for AJ. It's the same thing, and it's getting really old."

Johnny moved forward, his dark brown eyes cold and reflecting nothing. "Do you know what would have happened if you hadn't botched the hit?" he growled.

Max answered for him. "Lorenzo Alcazar would be dead, and no one would give a rat's ass."

Francis moved closer, standing next to Jason and mimicking his boss' stance. "But you couldn't have that, could you? Why? Why not?"

"Stay out of this," Courtney barked. "This is between me and him, not you three-"

"Shut up," Jason responded simply. "You don't talk to my men like that. In case you've forgotten, they don't take orders from you and they deserve your respect."

Johnny continued after Jason stopped, his eyes narrowing. "Do you even have any idea of what you did? You _saved_ Lorenzo Alcazar. You kept him on this earth when it was way past time for him to leave."

"You have memory problems along with the chronic stupidity or something?" Max wanted to know. "Do you even remember what that man did? He's been trying to kill your brother repeatedly, he's hurt Carly more times than I can remember, he's gone after you and Jason repeatedly, and what? You just waltz right in and save his fat from the fire?"

"Especially after all your wailing that he was responsible for the death of your child?" Francis whispered incredulously. Courtney's eyes flew to Jason for some sign of emotion, some flicker of pain that would tell his men to stop insulting the memory of their baby, but there was none. "I'm not even going to get in to the rationale behind a pregnant woman jumping into freezing water, but if he's as bad as you said he was, Courtney, why on earth would you – Oh, God damn it all! I'm not even going to pretend to try to understand!"

"You've done it this time." Max's voice cut through the silence as Francis turned away, running his hands agitatedly through his hair. "I'm not even going to let myself _think_ of what Sonny will do to you when he finds out."

Courtney's wide eyes fell on Jason, and he smirked internally at the plea for help in them. "And Sonny _will_ find out," Jason promised, his mouth set. "No one's covering your ass this time."

He'd never used words like that with her, and Courtney brought a trembling hand up to rub her forehead wearily. "Sonny will understand, even if you don't-"

"Like hell he will." Jason's eyes glittered with slowly simmering fury. "Compared to him, _I'm_ Mahatma Gandhi. Draw your own conclusions."

"Jason-"

"I have one thing to say to you," Jason interrupted, his eyes gleaming. He remained unmoving, surrounded by his smug bodyguards. "I can handle many things. I can handle mistakes. I can handle small lies. I can handle all the waffling back and forth. I can handle all the other crap you've pulled. But I'm a lot like your brother, Courtney, and maybe this happened because you just never saw that."

She swallowed noisily, ready to say something when he ignored her and continued.

"I can't handle betrayals. And that's exactly what you've done tonight."

Tears sprang to the blonde's eyes when she realized what he was saying. "Jason, please, you can't mean-"

"From what I hear, Lorenzo Alcazar can be a very grateful man. I hope you're happy with what he has to offer you."

Jason's arms dropped from his chest, and he nodded once to the guards. Max was the first to reach the door, holding the door open for Johnny as the tall Irishman stormed through with as much indifference as he could manage to show.

Courtney turned as Jason walked past her. His profile was hard and set, and she'd never seen him like this before. Tears slipped down her cheeks and she grabbed his arm in a futile attempt to stop him. "Jason, please, I promise-"

He turned on her, the rage in his piercing eyes causing her to drop her hands from his body immediately. "You're out of my life, for good this time. I don't know you at all, Courtney. And I don't love you because I never knew you. When you hear my voice, turn and walk away. When you come to visit your brother, pray to God that I'm not there. And if you ever see me, stand aside and watch as I pass by, not even turning an eye toward you. You don't exist to me anymore, Courtney, and nothing – none of your promises or pleas – will ever change that. You are out of my life."

He walked noiselessly past her and Francis followed at the rear, not bothering to look back at the broken young woman as he pulled the door shut behind him.

A knock sounded on the door and Sonny motioned for Adam to open it. Francis, Johnny, Jason, and Max filed in silently.

Jason walked straight to the wet bar and poured himself a glass of hard scotch, gulping it all down in one sip and not even wincing when it burned his throat. Max and Johnny collapsed on the couch, not even sparing a glance at their boss.

Adam, still standing by the door, was quite surprised by their behavior. Mr. Corinthos demanded nothing short of complete and total respect from his employees, and yet the three bodyguards in the room with him now had not even offered any greeting.

Perhaps this was what the other guards meant when they referred to Johnny, Max, and Francis as the Triumvirate. The three seemed to stick together, always guarding each other along with Jason and Sonny. They took over the most important jobs in the organization when Sonny and Jason were busy or in prison, and the Corinthos and Morgan women knew to obey them and trust them with their lives. And now these same men were guzzling down Sonny's liquor and putting their shoes up on his glass coffee table.

"What happened?" Sonny's gruff voice was tinged with uncertainty and cut through the numb silence in the room. "Why are you here? I was waiting for the call to go to the warehouse."

Johnny glanced at Jason, who flicked a wrist at him, signaling him to fill Sonny in. "Change in plans, boss," he replied, downcast and tired.

Sonny's eyebrow lifted. The mobster didn't like changes – especially when they weren't authorized by him. "Why? On whose order?"

Max chuckled quietly, the sound devoid of all humor. "Your sister."

"Courtney?" Sonny asked incredulously. He turned his flint eyes immediately on Jason, and was surprised to see the younger man gulping down another glass of liquor. "What does she have to do with any of this?"

"Everything," Francis answered simply, leaning his head back on the leather couch and closing his eyes.

"All right, Huey, Dewey and Louie," Sonny growled, pacing closer to them. "I want to know what's going on and I want to know _now_."

Adam smirked at the nicknames. Apparently, Mr. Corinthos was spending too much time with his son's Donald Duck story books.

Johnny sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes. "Here's the skinny, boss: We go to get Alcazar. Lo and behold, he's not there."

"He escaped?" Sonny cut in, surprised. "How in the hell could he have escaped? How can a blind man undo handcuffs and find his way out of a basement? Who the hell is he, Harry # Houdini? How did he escape?"

"Who said anything about escape?" Johnny asked, his eyebrows lifted in mock innocence.

"How else did he get out, then?" Sonny demanded, anger blazing through his coal-black eyes.

"Courtney." Johnny blinked at the loud clang as Jason set his glass down on the bar.

"What?" Sonny's voice was low and drawn, but weariness and exasperation kept Johnny from treading as carefully as he should have.

"Clear and simple, boss," the Irish man replied, staring back at Sonny, unabashed. "She got in, undid the cuffs, let him go, and called the cops to keep us away."

Sonny clenched a fist, his lips pursed into a tight line. Adam sighed, slipping closer to the door, eager to get as far away as possible from the shards of glass that would soon be flying through the air.

"We went to the safe house for a while," Johnny continued. "After watching Jason tear it apart for a while, we got news that Courtney went home at last. So we got there before her and had ourselves a nice little conversation."

"About what?" Sonny asked, turning to Jason.

The young man didn't answer right away, swallowing noisily and slowly making his way for the door. "You'd have been proud, Sonny. I gave her the same 'You're Dead to Me' speech. You'd have liked it." He reached for the doorknob, not even looking at Adam as the young guard reached to open it for him. "I'm going to bed."

The door slammed shut, leaving Sonny lost in his thoughts. As much as he liked the idea of Jason and his sister together, things had gone too far. Jason had ended it. As he should have. Now it was time for Sonny to make his move.

Loud yelling snapped the mob boss from his silent reverie, and his head whipped for the door. Jason's loud voice could be heard, cursing and yelling and slamming things. Before Sonny could blink, the door to his penthouse flew open and a terrified Sam stood before him, her eyes wide. She quickly threw her sweater on over her baby tee, pulling the drawstring of her pajama bottoms tighter around her small waist.

"Um, Sonny?" she asked, her brown eyes peering up at him. "Something tells me that you didn't tell Jason that I was staying with him."

Sonny sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, Sam. He's had a bad day. I apologize – you shouldn't have to suffer because of it."

She crept closer, her small fingers nervously twisting and twining. "I don't think my staying with him is such a good idea anymore," she confessed.

Sonny nodded, glancing nervously at the stairs. Carly and the boys were asleep upstairs, and he really didn't want her coming down the stairs to find Sam here.

"I'd love to ask you to stay here, but-"

"I know that's not an option," Sam assured him, pulling her hair out of her face.

Sonny nodded, glancing at Johnny and Max. "These two will take you to the PC Hotel and put you up for the night. I'll stop by in the morning."

She nodded and he bent down to kiss her. "Goodnight, Sam."

"Goodnight, Sonny."

Max sighed and got up, cracking his knuckles. Johnny groaned from his lounging position on the couch.

"Come on, John," Max urged. "Let's go."

All three men watched him as Johnny groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. "You want to drop me off at the house before you drop her, Max?" he asked, not really caring that Sonny was in the room. "I'm in no shape to do anything tonight."

"Great, stick me with it, why don't you?" Max growled, Johnny's indifferent manner becoming contagious.

Sonny cleared his throat, but neither men seemed to notice the reprimanding look in his eyes.

"I'll owe you one, man," Johnny assured him.

Max sighed, relenting. "Fine. Just get up."

Johnny stood slowly, shaking his head briskly in an attempt to chase away his fatigue. He followed Max and Sam out of the penthouse, softly closing the door behind him.

Sonny glanced at Francis, who was seated calmly at the dining table. "You're coming with me, Corelli."

Francis nodded, slowly getting up from his seat. "Where to, boss?"

"My sister's apartment."

Francis nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. Before he could reply, there was a hard knock on the door.

Sonny's brows furrowed in confusion, but he nodded for Adam to open it anyway.

No sooner had the redheaded guard turned the doorknob than Courtney barged in, her blonde mane flying.

"Sonny!"

"Courtney." The girl didn't notice the crisp tone of his voice, or how he didn't even attempt to smile at her.

"Michael left these at my place," she hurriedly explained, shoving a fire engine and a G.I. Joe action figure in his hands.

Francis smirked and walked quietly over to Adam. He tapped the young man on the shoulder and whispered something to him. Adam smiled and nodded, and quietly left the penthouse.

Sonny held the figures in his hands, staring down at them. "All right."

"Jason was over at my place tonight." Courtney's sudden confession had him staring back at her, blinking.

"Really." It was a statement, not a question, and the frazzled blonde didn't notice the sarcasm in her brother's voice.

"Yeah. And I wanted to come here and tell you the truth before he told you some story about me."

Sonny smiled, showing his dimples in full form. Courtney's spirits lifted; her brother would see why she had done what she did, and then he'd forgive her, leaving Jason with no choice but to do the same. And then everything would be good again.

"The funny thing about Jason," Sonny mused, rubbing his chin with two fingers. "Is that he doesn't tell stories."

The smile dropped off of Courtney's face.

"And the funny thing about me," Sonny continued, his eyes twinkling harshly. "Is that I trust and believe every word that comes out of his mouth."

Francis smiled, moving slowly to stand next to Sonny and crossing his arms over his chest. From the way Courtney glanced furtively at him, he knew it intimidated her. Ironic, seeing as how whenever she flashed those arms of hers at all, he was tempted to run for the hills.

"So if he says that you helped my enemy escape from me, then I believe him."

"That is _not_ what happened, Sonny," Courtney defended, trying to muster up as much conviction in her voice as she could. "You're not even listening to what I have to say."

"Not that I feel I have to or that it would change my mind, but I'll humor you," Sonny flipped back, crossing his arms over his chest like Francis and cocking his head at her.

"Get ready, boss," Francis chuckled. "This is going to be good."

Courtney narrowed her eyes at Sonny, imploring him to tell Francis to shove it, but her brother didn't pay any heed. Sighing, she rubbed her forehead. "I couldn't let you kill him. Jason would be sent off to prison and you'd be taken away from the boys and I – I couldn't let that happen."

Francis snorted. "Told you," he joked, leaning toward Sonny.

But the mobster wasn't laughing. "What I don't understand," he got out through gritted teeth, "is why you think this all involves you. It doesn't."

"But Sonny-"

"My God, don't you ever give up on this pathetic, simpering front?" he cried, throwing his hands in the air. "I've heard of needy damsels in distress, but this is # ridiculous!"

Francis offered Courtney a Cheshire cat grin, his eyebrows wiggling at her misery.

"You are not part of the mob, Courtney," Sonny boomed, pointing a finger at her. "You never were, and you never will be. You think you're all high and mighty and mob-moll like just because you've got some territory on the waterfront next to mine? You're just lucky that I was nice enough to let you keep it! Jason told me right at the beginning to just seize it from you before you gave us any trouble, but I said, 'Naw, let her have her fun'. A lot of good that did, by the way."

Courtney's bottom lip quivered, but Sonny was beyond caring. "I took you into my home, I welcomed you into my family, I put up with your farce of a marriage to that son of a bitch, I allowed your relationship with Jason even though I didn't like it, and I trusted you with my children, and you turn around and stab me in the back by helping the man that has caused my family so much pain."

"Sonny-"

"Don't you get it by now? Shut. Up." Sonny's voice was loud and hard, and Francis was enjoying every minute of it.

"This life does not concern you. I don't know when you started thinking it did – I would have put you in your place at that moment. You do not order my men around, you do not decide what I ship through my territory, you do not decide how I deal with my friends and foes, and you do not play God or Superman or what the # ever by saving men that I have ordered dead. None of the women in my life have ever done that – Lily, Brenda, Carly – so what makes you think you're good enough to?"

"That's not what I was –"

"Jesus Christ!" Sonny burst out, turning to Francis with his hands at his temples. "Even her voice is painful!"

Francis laughed, winking at the mess of a girl before him. "I always thought so."

"I don't care what you thought you were doing, little girl," Sonny warned, turning back to her. She gasped at the unbridled fury in his eyes, but he was beyond caring. "What matters now is that you will _never_ do it again."

He moved toward her, his voice low and taut, and she flinched when he spoke. "You've brought more harm and pain into my life than you have joy and happiness, and I'm doing what any smart businessman would do – I'm cutting my losses and cutting you loose. That's right," he added when her eyes widened. "Businessman. Not brother. Because you're not a sister to me anymore. You're no better than Lorenzo Alcazar. You made your bed with this stunt, Courtney. Now lie in it."

Francis' grin widened as Sonny continued.

"I don't want you near me anymore, Courtney. I don't want you near this penthouse. I don't want you near my children. I don't want you near Jason or Carly or Sam. I don't want to see you when I stop at Kelly's. I don't want to see you when I drive down the street. I don't want to see you at the hospital. I don't want to hear your voice, so don't ever bother calling me or writing to me. I want you out of this penthouse in three seconds flat. I don't particularly care where you go – your mother's, your father's, Jake's for a few rounds of beer, the Oasis to pick up where you left off. Just don't make an attempt to speak to me or my children, because you're not worthy of my attention and I refuse to let you corrupt them. Don't make an attempt to seek out Jason, because he wants even less to do with you than I do, if that's possible. And most importantly, don't go out and pick a fight with Sam or Elizabeth, because they're not the root of your problems. You are."

A sob escaped Courtney's lips, but Sonny continued without blinking an eye.

"Get out of my penthouse, Courtney. And preferably, get out of my town."

He turned to Francis, tipping his head at the weeping girl. "I'm going upstairs to get some sleep. Show her the door."

Francis nodded, making a mental note to thank Sonny for this all-too-perfect opportunity. "Sure thing, boss," he replied, trying not to show his happiness. He waited until Sonny sauntered up the stairs before turning his sights on the young woman.

"Well, now, isn't this tragic?" he clucked, his lips curling into a sneer. After showing up and playing this town like a harp, it was about time the little whore was knocked off her pedestal and exposed for the hypocritical, insipid, control freak she was. "Now, I feel like I should offer some advice, some charming little aphorism that fits the moment."

Courtney continued crying, rubbing her eyes like a small child as Francis tapped his chin as he pretended to think.

"You know, I think your father said it best. Now, I'm just paraphrasing here – I'm not nearly as intelligent or perceptive as Mike is, but," he paused, a full grin blossoming on his face. "You deserve what you get."

Courtney looked up at him, her tearful eyes filled with anger and bitterness. "You know what Francis? You can just-"

She didn't get a chance to finish as the tall bodyguard grabbed her arm roughly and all but shoved her toward the open door. "It's karma, little girl," he taunted. "What goes around comes around."

He pushed her out the door, holding it open with one hand. "And remember," he smirked. "Payback's a bitch, and so are you."

Those were the last words Courtney Matthews heard before the heavy door slammed in her face.

**_The End._**


End file.
